Zomato bans analogue paneer on its platform, asks restaurants to switch to dairy

Zomato has implemented a strict zero-tolerance policy against serving dishes containing analogue dairy products on its platform. Restaurants found non-compliant may be removed from the service. Dishes with analogue dairy have been removed from Zomato's offerings immediately. Restaurant partners are being asked to adopt natural dairy products and remove items containing analogue dairy from their menus if a swift transition isn't feasible.

Zomato is urging restaurant partners to meticulously check product labels and ingredient declarations provided by suppliers to ensure products listed on the platform are accurately represented. Aditya Mangla, Zomato's CEO, emphasized that the company's mission is to deliver better food for more people, and this policy is a step towards safeguarding customer health and maintaining clear standards.

Analogue dairy products are non-dairy alternatives that replace milk constituents with ingredients not derived from milk, such as vegetable oils, starches, plant proteins, emulsifiers, and other additives. While these products can be sold when accurately labeled, serving a cheese analogue as "paneer" or listing dishes made with analogue products as paneer is against the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

Maharashtra has also banned the manufacture and sale of artificial or analogue paneer due to public health concerns, finding that 35.4% of 308 analyzed samples failed to meet prescribed standards.